Saturday, September 25, 2010

The horror of what the Seattle Grace doctors went through on the "Grey's Anatomy" season finale reverberated through Thursday night's premiere. How could it not? Their friends and colleagues were shot and killed before their eyes. And every time one of the shocking scenes replayed on the small screen, it was hard not to feel the jolt again.

No wonder Meredith, Cristina, Derek, Karev, Lexie and everyone else was having such a hard time readjusting to being back at work. Little Grey freaked out in front of patients, and Mark had to have her committed. Cristina would do nothing but flip through bridal magazines as she planned her wedding to Owen. Karev pretended nothing was wrong, pleased to have a bullet just under the surface of his skin. ("Chicks dig that crap.") Derek ran with the adrenaline of surviving being shot, acting recklessly and finding himself in jail more than once. "Life is short, so now I think less and I just do," he said. And think less he did. He unexpectedly quit as chief while giving a speech to the hospital staff.

And Meredith seethed as one by one, the counselor cleared her fellow surgeons to operate, but refused to give her the OK. The more her friends began to do whatever they could to heal, the more upset she seemed to get, trying to get everyone to see they were not ready to be back. "We are not better," she insisted.

Perhaps not all better, but they were on the path to getting there, and the wedding of Cristina and Owen was a stop along the way. Cristina, who was once terrified of Owen and what his PTSD might lead him to do, now had someone who understood what she is experiencing and could help her move forward.

As for Meredith, happy as she was to finally see how perfect Owen was for her best friend, she's now alone in her dark, twisty place.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insists that his Real Madrid counterpart Jose Mourinho is sometimes "managing a circus", and at other times a "fantastic outfit"

The two managers were rivals during Portuguese boss' three-year stint at Chelsea, which saw him win two Premier League titles, two League Cups and an FA Cup. He then moved on to Inter, guiding the Italian champions to the pinnacle of Europe by winning the Champions League last season, before switching allegiance to Real Madrid.

Ferguson reckons the dual nature of the job makes it Mourinho's most difficult job to date, but believes that the Spanish heavyweights have improved since he took charge at the Bernabeu.

"Real Madrid are better off without question," Ferguson said, according to The Mirror.

"You can expect Real to improve with Jose this year. The Real Madrid job is the hardest challenge in his career.

"I’ve spoken to Jose a couple of times. He’s not managing a normal football club, sometimes he’s managing a circus, sometimes a fantastic outfit in terms of the quality of the football they can produce and the kind of players they always want. It’s a very difficult club to manage."

In the meantime, when concerning domestic matters, the United boss quipped that Chelsea must have picked their own fixture list, as they now have five victories from five games played in the Premier League - against West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, West Ham United and recently Blackpool.

However, the 68-year-old maintained that the current title holders have still done well to register five consecutive victories, which sees them having scored 21 goals while conceding just one.

"I think Chelsea chose the calendar themselves," said Ferguson. "They’ve had a quite amazing start to the season. But they finished last season scoring a lot of goals against weaker teams and have continued that way.

"You still have to beat those teams, and Chelsea done that in quite a strong fashion. Anyone who wins the league will have to finish above them. The previous winners always deserve respect, because the Premier League is a difficult league."

Coming to matters involving the title race - which saw the Old Trafford outfit miss out on claiming a fourth consecutive triumph last season - sees Ferguson insisting that it will be a three horse race to the finish line with Chelsea, United and Arsenal battling to be crowned champions.

As for which club will occupy the fourth and final spot that points towards Champions League football, the Scot insists that it is still to early too make any bold predictions.

"It’s still too early to make strong predictions," he said. "You have to give respect to Tottenham’s progress in the last few years. The disappointment for me is Everton’s start. I put them down as one of the big favourites.

"It remains to be seen in what order and if Tottenham can break into the top four. But the top three are the strongest at the moment.

"Manchester City did not have the strongest start to the season, but you have to think that with the squad they have they’ll be there.

"I saw them beat Liverpool and they’re going to be a big challenge with the power they have and the big lads in the team. Roberto Mancini bought half a team in the summer and it’s not easy to bed down. But if they get continuity they’ll certainly be a threat.

"Ourselves, Arsenal and Chelsea have started reasonably well and will all be there at the end of the season."

Friday, September 24, 2010

A meeting between the British Foreign Secretary and his Iranian counterpart has been described by Sky sources as "not a meeting of minds".

William Haguespoke to Manouchehr Mottaki at theUnited Nationsin New York, where world leaders have gathered for the annual General Assembly.

The UN is putting pressure on Tehran to abandon its nuclear programme and allow inspectors to examine its facilities.

The Iranian government insists its uranium enrichment project is solely to provide electricity for the country and not make nuclear weapons.

But members of the UN Security Council are not convinced, slapping more sanctions on the country in June.

President Obamais widely expected to deliver a speech to the Assembly later in which he will leave the door open to talks with Iran.

This follows comments from both President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Rafsanjani that were interpreted as a signal the country was willing to enter into negotiations, as the effect of the new sanctions had been more swingeing than expected

However, in an interview with the Associated Press news agency this week, the Iranian President appeared defiant.

"If the (sanctions) were... effective, I should not be sitting here right now," he said.

This week the UN has hosted a summit on whether the world was on track to meet the ambitious Millennium Development Goals to alleviate world poverty.

President Obama delivered a speech which outlined what he described as a new approach to development issues, saying the focus would be on entering into partnerships with struggling countries to ensure they were not reliant on handouts.

"For too long, we've measured our efforts by the dollars we spent and the food and medicines that we delivered," he said.

"But aid alone is not development. Development is helping nations to actually develop, moving from poverty to prosperity."

Michael Owen conceded that Wednesday's Carling Cup win over Scunthorpe was a vital outing for several squad members who have found themselves consigned to the first team periphery this term.The 30-year-old bagged a brace in United's 5-2 victory at Glanford Park, as he made his first start since August's Community Shield. United's starting line-up contained eight players who had made one or less starts so far this term, and a pepped-up Scunthorpe side provided a valuable test of their fitness and sharpness."There are a few of us who haven't been playing a lot this season and needed the game, and Scunthorpe made a real game of it," Owen told MUTV. "They're obviously very fit and they never stopped going forward."We scored five goals but they could have scored a few as well. It was a good game. There were a lot of players there tonight that needed that first game; be it players coming back from injury or players who just haven't played, so that was beneficial to us."All in all it was a good workout and we're pleased to get through to the next round - especially seeing the other results!"

Owen feels he and a number of other action-starved players have fallen foul of the early-season schedule, but the striker predicts that the onset of cup duties, allied to the bread and butter of the Premier League, will ensure plenty of squad rotation from Sir Alex Ferguson."It's been a strange start to the season," said Owen. "We played weekend-weekend-weekend, and then it was international games for two weeks so the manager didn't need to rotate so much. Subsequently, five weeks into the season the manager had kept a similar team.

source: Manutd"We're coming into a period now where the Champions League has started, the League Cup has started and there are Premier League games, so I'm sure there will be a lot more games coming thick and fast now."

Thursday, September 23, 2010

The US Central Intelligence Agency is running and paying for a secret 3,000-strong army of Afghan paramilitaries whose main aim is assassinating Taliban and al-Qa'ida operatives not just in Afghanistan but across the border in neighbouring Pakistan's tribal areas, according to Bob Woodward's explosive book.

Although the CIA has long been known to run clandestine militias in Afghanistan, including one from a base it rents from the Afghan president Hamid Karzai's half-brother in the southern province of Kandahar, the sheer number of militiamen directly under its control have never been publicly revealed.

Woodward's book, Obama's Wars, describes these forces as elite, well-trained units that conduct highly sensitive covert operations into Pakistan as part of a stepped-up campaign against al-Qa'ida and Afghan Taliban havens there. Two US newspapers published the claims after receiving copies of the manuscript.

The secret army is split into "Counterterrorism Pursuit Teams", and is thought to be responsible for the deaths of many Pakistani Taliban fighters who have crossed the border into Afghanistan to fight Nato and Afghan government forces there.

There are ever-increasing numbers of "kill-or-capture" missions undertaken by US Special Forces against Afghan Taliban and foreign fighters, who hope to drive rank-and-file Taliban towards the Afghan government's peace process by eliminating their leaders. The suspicion is that the secret army is working in close tandem with them.

Although no comment has been forthcoming, it is understood that the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, Gen David Petraeus, approves of the mission, which bears similarities to the covert assassination campaign against al-Qa'ida in Iraq, which was partially credited with stemming the tide of violence after the country imploded between 2004 and 2007.

The details of the clandestine army have surprised no one in Kabul, the Afghan capital, although the fact that the information is now public is unprecedented. There have been multiple reports of the CIA running its own militias in southern Afghanistan.

The operation also has powerful echoes of clandestine operations of the 1990s, when the CIA recruited and ran a militia inside the Afghan border with the sole purpose of killing Osama bin Laden. The order then that a specially recruited Afghan militia was "to capture him alive" – the result of protracted legal wrangles about when, how and if Osama bin Laden could be killed – doomed efforts to assassinate him before 9/11.

Paul Scholes has given the Carling Cup an unqualified thumbs-up, even though it could be one of the reasons why England perform so badly at major tournaments.

It was generally acknowledged that the sheer weight of matches is one of the prime reasons Fabio Capello's team put in abject performances in South Africa.

That explanation backs up Michel Platini's belief that England's best players turn from lions in the autumn, to lambs in the spring.

Although most of Europe are using this midweek to play matches, it is either for a league fixture that will allow a gap to be created later in the season, or for cup competitions they tend not to give much importance to.

In England it marks the first step towards a Wembley final on February 27, and for Manchester United the chance to collect the trophy for the third year running.

At this stage, Sir Alex Ferguson prefers to give his senior fringe players more game time, with the likes of Michael Owen among those expected to be selected for Wednesday's trip to Scunthorpe.

However, no-one needs reminding the competition provided two of the biggest nights of United's entire season last year; the two-legged semi-final with Manchester City.

And it is the prospect of playing in such fixtures that will ensure Scholes takes a keen interest in the outcome.

"I would prefer to be playing mega games than be sat at home watching them," said Scholes.

"You do get high intensity games in the Carling Cup and maybe in other countries, cup competitions are not as important.

"But it is in our nature to want to win every game.

"Winning trophies is all about getting to the later stages of competitions and having big games at the end of them. We want to win this, just as we want to win every other tournament we enter."

As Rio Ferdinand's participation depends on him getting over a virus that kept him out of Sunday's victory over Liverpool, Owen could be the most high-profile player involved on United's first visit to GlanfordPark.

Most interest will surround new arrival Bebe, who is pencilled in for some involvement after missing the reserve team encounter at Bury last night.

The 20-year-old arrived at Old Trafford via an unconventional route, with eyebrows being raised at how a player who arrived at Vitoria Guimaraes on a free transfer after Portuguese third tier outfit Estrela da Amadora failed to pay his wages, should suddenly be worth in excess of £7million even though he never played a competitive game.

In addition, Ferguson claimed the wide man's fitness levels were not high enough on his arrival at Old Trafford, having admitted he took a punt on Bebe without actually seeing him play.

That problem has seemingly been rectified, so Bebe is set to be exposed to the pressure of being a United player tomorrow in a game Scholes does not expect to be easy.

"Scunthorpe are a very good team at home," he said.

"Anything can happen at places like that so I just hope we can get through to the next round."

Tomasz Kuszczak will replace Van der Sar, and Anderson is set to start for the first time since rupturing cruciate knee ligaments last February.

Chris Smalling can also look forward to an appearance, as can fellow summer recruit Javier Hernandez, who is set to partner Owen in attack.

Owen's last competitive start was in the final of this competition last season when he scored United's equaliser against Aston Villa at Wembley before being forced off with a hamstring injury that ended his season.

The former Liverpool man is said to be concerned at his limited appearances so far this season, although with games now starting to pile up, Scholes accepts the part of the campaign when he could expect to be involved every week is over.

"The players are not bothered about squad rotation now," he said.

"We have 25 or 26 players training every day and it is something you have to be ready for.

"We know that we are not going to play every game. That is definite. We just have to make sure when we are needed, we are ready to go."

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Real Madridreturned to the summit of the Primera Division on Tuesday evening following an incident-packed 3-0 victory overEspanyol.

Cristiano Ronaldo (29 pen), Gonzalo Higuain (78) and Karim Benzema (87) were all on the scoresheet as Madrid claimed three points to move one point clear of Valencia at the top of the standings, having played one game more.

Neither side finished the match with a full compliment of players, with Madrid defender Pepe the first to be sent off in the 60th minute.

DIMITAR BERBATOV fired Manchester United to victory over arch-rivals Liverpool in a pulsating Premier League clash at Old Trafford.

The Bulgarian forward bagged a hat-trick as United earned a hard-fought 3-2 win in a thrilling game against their bittter enemies, who had staged a fightback from two goals down with a double from Steven Gerrard.

Berbatov, 29, scored his third six minutes from time to break Liverpool's hearts, capping a memorable performance for the rejuvenated striker.

From the offset, United dominated proceedings and heaped pressure on the visitors, who took on a defensive approach by playing five in midfield.

Nani wasted an early chance in the 16th minute when he directed a shot wide after being set up by Wayne Rooney inside the six-yard box.

The Portuguese winger was then booked on 36 minutes for a nasty tackle on Liverpool full-back Paul Konchesky as the game started to come to life.

United broke the deadlock just before half-time when Berbatov scored his fifth goal of the season from a Ryan Giggs corner after poor marking from Fernando Torres, steering his header past Pepe Reina and Konchesky on the line.

The match looked over on 59 minutes when Berbatov added his and United's second with a superb overhead kick following a Nani cross.

However, rather than look dead and buried, this seemed to spark Liverpool into life and they were given a chance to get back into the game when Torres was fouled in the box by Jonny Evans on 63 minutes.

Gerrard coolly stepped up to side-foot home, despite a chorus of boos from the home fans that rang around Old Trafford.

After being outplayed for most of the game, Liverpool were back in it, and after a clumsy foul outside the penalty area by John O'Shea on Torres just outside the box, Roy Hodgson's men had another chance.

Gerrard found a gap in the United wall with a curling 20-yard effort which left Edwin Van der Sar helpless and the Liverpool captain delirious as he celebrated his strike by grabbing hold of a television camera.

Sir Alex Ferguson was fuming on the touchline as his side appeared to have thrown away another two-goal lead following their spectacular collapse at Goodison Park last week.

But Berbatov became United's saviour, as the game took another twist, when he bulleted a header past Reina following an excellent cross from O'Shea on 84 minutes.

This time there was no coming back from the Merseysiders as United sensibly played out time.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Did you see the moment when Lady Gaga was given her MTV music award for Video of the Year? She hugged Jane Lynch and said, " I love you!." The thing about Lady Gaga is that she really does. She really loves the gays. Unlike some performers who tell their gay fans that they love them and nothing more, Lady Gaga puts her money where her mouth is. I saw her recently in concert and I swear, it was about the gayest show I have ever been to. Gayer than Melissa Etheridge or The Indigo Girls. Over and over in her concert she called out for gay rights, same-sex marriage and the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

She is one of the most popular stars of our time and she could sit back and enjoy her fame and fortune. But she's taken her cause, our cause, and spoken out about it every chance she gets. She was escorted to the VMAs by soldiers who had been kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. It seems like she can't open her mouth without appreciating her gay fans.

Some might write her off as just a pop singer, but I think what Lady Gaga is doing is profound. She's got the whole world watching her. Maybe just to see her meat dress or what other outrageous thing she's going to wear. But I think the impact of Gaga is monumental. As she talks about her fans, the "little monsters", the kids who are ostracized and made fun of, I can imagine a gay or lesbian teen in some podunk town tuning into her and finding validation for who they are, getting the courage to keep being themselves, staying alive because ofLady Gaga.

by Kiyoko Tanimoto

An eye witness account of the Hiroshima atomic bomb

I lay there buried alive under our house when the bomb hit our city. The bomb started great fires. The fires came nearer and nearer to us as workers tried to reach us. "Hurry!" they cried to one another as the flames came nearer. At last the workers reached us and pulled me and my mother out from under everything, before the flames reached us.

Now later, as I thought of the pilot of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on our city, I cried, "I hate him. I hate him." The people with marked faces from the effects of the bomb made me cry, "I hate him." I saw people suffering a terrible, slow death. Again and again I cried, as I saw these people, "I hate that pilot, I hate him!"

I HATED HIM

Now some time later I was in USA and that pilot appeared in a meeting I attended. As I looked at him, I hated him with a bitter hatred.

But then I listened to what he told us of his experience the day when he dropped the bomb on our city. I heard him say, "When I flew over the city after we dropped the bomb, I cried, 'O God, what have I done'." I realised he found it difficult to speak of that day. He could hardly speak for tears.

As this happened I suddenly realised my hatred of him was wrong. It only made me unhappy also. As I did this, it was as if a heavy load fell off my shoulders. I cried, "God, help me to forgive him. Please God, forgive my wrong feelings towards him. Please give me Your Spirit to control my thoughts."

I also told God, "I am sorry for all my wrong thoughts." I believe Jesus Christ died for my sin. As I did this my life was changed. I now help people that suffer from hating other people. I seek to help them to love everyone, as I am now able to do.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Afghans march in Kabul Monday against the planned burning of Qurans by a U.S. church.

Gen. Petraeus said protest 'could endanger troops'

MIAMI —The government turned up the pressure Tuesday on the head of a small Florida church who plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, warning him that doing so could endanger U.S. troops and Americans everywhere.

But the Rev. Terry Jones insisted he would go ahead with his plans, despite criticism from the top U.S. general in Afghanistan, the White House and the State Department, as well as a host of religious leaders.

Jones, who is known for posting signs proclaiming that Islam is the devil's religion, says the Constitution gives him the right to publicly set fire to the book that Muslims consider the word of God.

Gen. David Petraeus warned Tuesday in an e-mail to The Associated Press that "images of the burning of a Quran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in Afghanistan — and around the world — to inflame public opinion and incite violence." It was a rare example of a military commander taking a position on a domestic political matter.

Rev. Terry Jones poses for a photo Aug. 30 at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla.

Jones responded that he is also concerned but is "wondering, 'When do we stop?'" He refused to cancel the protest set for Saturday at his Dove World Outreach Center, a church that espouses an anti-Islam philosophy.

"How much do we back down? How many times do we back down?" Jones told the AP. "Instead of us backing down, maybe it's to time to stand up. Maybe it's time to send a message to radical Islam that we will not tolerate their behavior."

Still, Jones said he will pray about his decision.

A Facebook group has been set up called 'International Burn A Koran Day' and is linked to from the church's website. As of Tuesday morning, it had 8,539 members.

A member of the church, Fran Ingram, told msnbc.com that they had a "stack of about 150" Qurans, which she said had been sent from across the world. "We are expecting to burn about 200 at least," she said.

"I think we should go ahead personally," Ingram added. "That's what I think. I stand with the pastors. We need to go ahead with it."

However, asked about how she would feel if the church decided to abandon the event, she told msnbc.com: "I would be in agreement ... not like a puppet on a string ... I believe in the word of God. We are hearing what God wants us to do."

She said "a few of the pastors" would burn the Qurans on a field outside the church, while she and other members of the congregation remained inside. "They are going to take the risk," Ingram said.

ones, who runs the small, evangelical Christian church with an anti-Islam philosophy, says he has received more than 100 death threats and has started wearing a .40-caliber pistol strapped to his hip.

On Monday, Petraeus said the Quran-burning event would be exploited by the Taliban. The White House also spoke out against the plan as "un-American" and said it would put American diplomats and travelers at risk.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort," he said. "It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems. Not just here, but everywhere in the world, we areengaged with the Islamic community."

Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, commander of the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan, told CNN the news of event was already provoking popular anger in Afghanistan.

"It's their Holy Book, so when somebody says that they're going to destroy that and cause a desecration to something that's very sacred to them, it's already stirred up a lot of discussion and concern amongst the people," he said.

"We very much feel that this could jeopardize the safety of our men and women that are serving over here," Caldwell added.

“I think such actions are in a strong contradiction with all of the values we stand for and fight for,” he said.

"Of course, there is a risk it may also have a negative impact on the security for our troops,” Rasmussen added.

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the minister's plan to burn the Muslim holy book on Sept. 11 is "distasteful" but added the minister has a right to do it. "We can't say that we're going to apply the First Amendment to only those cases where we are in agreement," he said.

'Death to America'

In Kabul, several hundred demonstrators, mostly students from religious schools who gathered outside Kabul's Milad ul-Nabi mosque on Monday, rallied to protest against the church's plan.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said the "United States government in no way condones such acts of disrespect against the religion of Islam, and is deeply concerned about deliberate attempts to offend members of religious or ethnic groups".

"Americans from all religious and ethnic backgrounds reject this offensive initiative by this small group in Florida, a great number of American voices are protesting the hurtful statements made by this organization," it said in a statement.

Muslims consider the Quran to be the word of God and insist it be treated with the utmost respect, along with any printed material containing its verses or the name of Allah or the Prophet Muhammad. Any intentional damage or show of disrespect to the Quran is deeply offensive.

In this progressive north Florida town of 125,000 anchored by the sprawling University of Florida campus, the lanky preacher with the bushy white mustache is mostly seen as a fringe character who doesn't deserve the attention he's getting.

Still, at least two dozen Christian churches, Jewish temples and Muslim organizations in Gainesville have mobilized to plan inclusive events — some will read from the Quran at their own weekend services — to counter what Jones is doing. A student group is organizing a protest across the street from the church Saturday.

The Vatican newspaper on Tuesday published an article in which Catholic bishops, including Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha of Lahore, Pakistan, criticized Jones' plan.

"No one burns the Quran," read the headline in Tuesday's L'Osservatore Romano.

At the State Department, spokesman P.J. Crowley said the administration hoped Americans would stand up and reject the the church's plan, calling it "un-American" and "inconsistent" with American values.

"We think that these are provocative acts," Crowley said. "They are disrespectful, they're intolerant, they're divisive. ... We would like to see more Americans stand up and say that this is inconsistent with our American values; in fact, these actions themselves are un-American."

The fire department has denied Jones a required burn permit for Sept. 11, but he has vowed to go ahead with his event. He said lawyers have told him his right to burn the Quran is protected by the First Amendment whether he's got permission from the city or not.

The Dove World Outreach Church describes itself as "New Testament, Charismatic, Non-Denominational."

Thechurch's websitesays it seeks to "expose Islam" as a "violent and oppressive religion." It displays a sign reading "Islam is of the Devil."

The website's front page has a blog by Ingram entitled "Ten Reasons to Burn a Koran."

'We do not hate any people'

"We are using this act [burning the Quran] to warn about the teaching and ideology of Islam, which we do hate as it is hateful. We do not hate any people, however. We love, as God loves, all the people in the world," Ingram wrote in the article, dated Sept. 2.

The dispute comes at a time of already heated debate over a proposal to build a cultural center and mosque two blocks away from the site in New York of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Opponents of the building plan say it is insensitive to families of the victims of the attacks by al-Qaida.

U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in Afghanistan soon after those attacks for harboring al-Qaida leaders, including Osama bin Laden.

Demonstrations and riots triggered by reported desecration of the Quran are not infrequent in Afghanistan and other Muslim countries. The most violent protests came after cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper in 2006.

Last January, Afghan troops shot and killed eight demonstrators and wounded 13 in southern Helmand province in a riot triggered by a report that foreign troops had desecrated the Quran during a raid. A spokesman for NATO forces denied the report.

Since the controversy over the book burning arose, the finances of Dove World Outreach Center have come under scrutiny.

CBS News reported on Tuesday that the church spends most of its money on administrative expenses and that Jones operates a furniture business out of the church building. CBS found that according to the church's 2006 tax return, program services accounted for 30.5 percent of expenses while administrative costs made up 69.5 percent.